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ADDRESS 


HON.  CHAUNCEY  M.  DEPEW, 


AT  THE  MEMORIAL   SERVICES  BY  THE 


Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York 


IN  HONOR  OP 


GENERAL  JAMES  W.  HUSTED. 


MARCH    28,  1883. 


UNI.  ^ 

BANT  BARA 


tX 


jfuf 


:  ADDRESS 

BY   THE 

Hon.  Chauncey  M.  Depew, 

AT  THE 

Memorial      Services 

BY  THE 

Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York, 

IN  HONOR  OF  GENERAL  JAMES  W.  HUSTED, 

m  THE 

Assembly  Chamber,  at  Albany, 

Tuesday  Evening,  March  2Sth,  1893. 


Senators  and  Members  of  Assembly  : 

In  the  fall  of  1852,  I  stood  upon  the  campus  at 
Yale  College,  a  country  lad,  who  had  just  entered 
the  freshman  class.  I  had  neither  a  friend  nor  an 
acquaintance  in  New  Haven,  and  was  utterly  lone- 
some and  homesick.  A  handsome  young  man,  with 
brilliant  eyes,  a  mass  of  wavy  auburn  hair,  flowing 


down  to  his  shoulders,  and  a  gay,  debonair  way, 
stepped  briskly  up  to  me,  and  with  a  cordial  grasp, 
as  if  we  had  been  life-long  friends,  said,  "my  name 
is  Husted,  I  am  a  Junior,  and  we  are  both  from 
Westchester  County."  This  was  the  beginning  of 
our  attachment,  which  remained  unbroken  amid  all 
the  wonderful  changes  and  vicissitudes  of  the 
future,  and  ripened  and  deepened  with  time,  until 
our  relations  were  ended  by  the  death  of  General 
Husted,  forty  years  afterwards.  The  undergraduate 
was  then  developing  the  qualities  which  were  the 
elements  of  his  success.  He  was  not  a  close  student, 
but  very  active  in  the  work  of  the  literary  societies. 
He  was  not  a  factor  of  importance  in  the  compe- 
tition for  scholastic  honors,  but  he  was  a  potential 
force  in  college  politics.  He  cared  little  who  was 
to  be  the  valedictorian,  but  was  uncommonly 
anxious  to  be  the  leader  of  his  class.  He  was  an 
excellent  classical  scholar,  and  always  kept  up  his 
easy  familiarity  with  Latin  and  Greek,  but  believed 
with  Pope,  that 

"  The  proper  study  of  mankind  is  man." 

Like  all  the  men  who  have  risen  to  distinction 
in  our  country,  he  was  compelled  to  work  from  the 
start,  and  without  other  assistance,  than  his  own 
industry  and  ability,  make  his  own  career.  His 
remarkable  power  of  lucid  explanation  made  him 
an  admirable  teacher.  The  Academy  which  he 
taught  after  leaving  college,  to  secure  the  means 


3 

for  prosecuting  his  law  studies,  never  had  a  better 
principal,  and  he  continued  to  teach  until  his  ad- 
mission to  the  Bar.  He  leaped  into  the  political 
arena  as  soon  as  he  received  his  diploma,  and  had 
won  the  respect  and  recognition  of  the  county 
leaders  before  he  began  practising  his  profession. 
He  was  faithful  to  the  trusts  which  he  assumed 
either  as  teacher  or  lawyer,  or  business  man,  but 
his  models  were  the  statesmen  of  the  country,  and 
his  ambitions  and  aspirations  were  for  public  life. 
It  was  thirty-eight  years  from  his  graduation  until 
his  death,  and  as  School  Commissioner,  Deputy 
Superintendent  of  the  Insurance  Department,  Har- 
bor Master,  Deputy  Captain  of  the  Port,  Emigra- 
tion Commissioner,  and  Member  of  the  Legislature, 
he  was  for  thirty-five  years  in  responsible  positions 
in  our  State  Government.  But  he  was  also,  during 
this  active  and  busy  period,  Judge  Advocate  of 
the  Seventh  Brigade,  Major  General  of  the  Fifth 
Division  of  the  National  Guard,  and  Grand  Master 
of  the  Masonic  Fraternity  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
He  served  twenty-two  terms  in  the  House  of  As- 
sembly, and  was  six  times  its  Speaker,  a  record  un- 
equalled, either  in  length  of  service,  or  in  the  num- 
ber of  elections  as  Presiding  Officer  of  the  popular 
branch  of  the  Legislature,  in  the  history  of  the 
State.  He  grasped  intuitively  the  conditions  in  his 
district,  and  possessed  endless  fertility  of  resource 
and  audacity  for  attack.  In  the  quickness  of  his 
movements  and  combinations  he  resembled  General 


Sheridan,  and  the  suddeness  and  brilliancy  of  his 
assault  was  like  a  cavalry  charge  of  Murat'  s.    While 
still  a  law  student,  he  upset  tlie  calculations  and 
defeated  the  plans  of  the  veteran  party  managers, 
and  by  a  creation  and  coalition  as  original  as  it 
was  bold,  carried  the  Third  District  of  Westchester 
and  elected  himself  School  Commissioner.     Rock- 
land County  had  always  been  a  Democratic  strong- 
hold.     It  was  in  the  same  Senatorial  and  Congress- 
ional District  as  Westchester,  and  General  Husted 
had  frequently  canvassed  it  and  was  thoroughly 
familiar  with  its  people.     After  he  had  served  nine 
terms  in  the  Assembly  from  Westchester  County, 
the  Republicans  of  Rockland  invited  him  to  come 
over  and  lead  the  forlorn  hope.      His  quick  eye 
detected  a  division  in  the  apparently  solid  ranks  of 
the  enemy.      He  accepted  the  nomination  in  Rock- 
land for  Member  of  Assembly,  and  to  the  surprise 
of  the  State  and  the  country,  carried  the  county 
twice.     He  thus  accomplished   a  doubly  difficult 
task,  first  in   overcoming  a   majority  which  had 
always  been  overwhelmingly  against  his  party,  and 
secondly  in  succeeding  against  the  strong  local  pre- 
judices which  always  exist  in  our  constituencies 
against  a  candidate  who  is  not  a  resident  of  the 
district. 

It  would  greatly  strengthen  and  improve  our  pub- 
lic life  if  this  custom  was  more  elastic.  No  matter 
how  able  or  useful  a  representative  may  be,  no  mat- 
ter how  valuable  to  good  government,  or  to  the  posi- 


tion  and  poAver  of  his  party,  his  political  career  is 
dependent  upon  the  accidents  in  the  district  where 
he  may  happen  to  reside.  If  constituencies  could 
and  would  choose  from  candidates  without  regard 
to  residence,  men  like  Mr.  Blaine  or  Mr.  Thurman 
would  always  be  in  their  proper  places,  leading  their 
respective  parties,  and  giving  their  genius  for  affairs 
and  ripe  experience  to  the  service  of  their  country. 
The  statesman  who  had  been  beaten  by  a  nobody 
upon  some  local  issue  could  find  a  constituency 
devoted  to  national  questions  which,  would  gladly 
return  him,  and  have  pride  in  the  fame  of  their 
member. 

General  Husted  entered  the  field  of  State  politics 
at  a  time  when  an  old  dynasty  was  crumbling  to 
pieces.  New  York  has  been  singular  in  the  domina- 
tion of  her  great  parties  by  individuals  or  cliques. 
They  have  alwrays  been  arbitrary  and  autocratic,  and 
often  tyrannical.  It  is  said  of  a  Parliamentary  dis- 
trict in  London,  which  will  always  give  a  larger  ma- 
jority for  a  titled  candidate  than  for  a  commoner, 
that  Marylebone  dearly  loves  a  lord.  So  our  State 
for  more  than  half  a  century  has  shown  a  decided 
preference  for  what  partisans  call  a  leader,  and  the 
public  a  boss.  Power  is  exercised,  either  in  the  rec- 
ognition and  promotion  of  ability,  or  in  a  merciless 
crusade  against  talent  and  ambition,  and  the  ruth- 
less slaughter  of  independent  thought  or  action. 
In  the  one  case  the  party  grows  in  strength  and  op- 
portunity, and  in  the  other  it  falls  finally  into  the 


6 

hands  of  a  diminishing  number  until  the  hardships 
of  defeat  have  restored  its  vitality  and  vigor.  Edwin 
Crosswell  and  the  Albany  Argus  had  ruled  the 
Democratic  Party  for  a  long  time,  and  Thurlow 
Weed  had  controlled  the  Whig,  and  afterwards  the 
Republican  Party,  for  more  than  thirty  years. 
There  was  little  opportunity  for  young  men  in  either 
organization,  and  revolts  against  the  leaders  were  be- 
coming more  frequent  and  formidable.  The  alliance 
between  Seward,  Weed  and  Greeley,  which  had  ex- 
ercised such  a  powerful  and  historical  influence  upon 
the  affairs  of  both  the  state  and  nation,  had  been 
dissolved  by  the  retirement  of  the  junior  member. 
Roscoe  Conkling  and  Reuben  E.  Fen  ton  were  fight- 
ing the  machine  and  denouncing  machine  rule  and 
machine  methods  with  a  force  and  eloquence  which 
have  never  been  equalled.  The  subsequent  position 
of  both  these  exceedingly  able  and  successful  men 
on  this  question,  is  a  remarkable  illustration  of  the 
irony  of  political  evolution. 

Young  men  usually  find  that  where  the  party  is 
cliqued,  the  only  way  to  secure  favors  or  recognition 
is  by  making  the  leaders  fear  them.  But  in  as- 
sociations formed  by  such  considerations  there  is 
neither  faith  nor  fidelity.  Thurlow  Weed  main- 
tained his  supremacy  for  a  generation  because  of 
the  wisdom  and  liberality  of  his  methods.  The  rule 
usually  is  to  repel  assistance,  especially  from  strong 
men,  because  of  jealousy,  and  also  on  the  principle, 
that  the  more  numerous  the  victors  the  more  minute 


is  the  division  of  the  spoils.  Mr.  Weed,  for  the 
greater  part  of  his  long  reign,  was  constantly  re- 
cruiting his  forces.  When  a  young  man  displayed 
conspicuous  ability,  either  in  the  Legislature,  or 
State  Convention,  or  upon  the  platform,  his  ac- 
quaintance was  sought  and  his  friendship  gained, 
This  constant  replacement  of  losses,  and  strength- 
ening of  his  organization  with  fresh  and  vigorous 
members,  made  him  invincible  for  a  generation. 
Horace  Greeley  was  unequalled  as  a  partisan  editor, 
but  he  could  not  contest  the  leadership  with  Thur- 
low  Weed.  He  was  a  great  thinker  and  writer,  but 
the  weakest,  and  most  uncertain  of  political  cap- 
tains. He  was  so  vacillating  in  his  movements,  and 
so  credulous  in  his  judgment  of  men,  that  his  selec- 
tion of  lieutenants  was  often  unfortunate,  and  some- 
times whimsical.  In  the  last  years  of  Mr.  Weed's 
active  control  of  the  party,  he  changed  his  policy. 
The  able  men  who  had  acted  with,  and  under  him 
so  long,  fearing  the  vigorous  youth,  who  were  forg- 
ing to  the  front,  aroused  his  distrust  of  these  push- 
ing ambitions.  The  result  was  first  revolt, 'and  then 
revolution  within  the  party,  and  next  its  defeat  in 
the  State. 

Independence  of  thought  and  action  have  unre- 
strained opportunity  when  a  party  is  in  the 
minority.  Rewards  and  punishments  are  no 
longer  factors  in  caucusses  or  conventions,  and 
influence  is  proportioned  to  merit.  It  was  some 
years  after  the  fall  of  Thurlow  Weed,  before  the 


8 

party  found  a  new  leader.  During  this  period,  a 
number  of  young  men,  of  brilliant  ability  and 
great  promise,  came  prominently  before  the  public. 
Many  of  them  disappeared  afterwards,  either  los- 
ing their  constituencies,  or  being  crushed  out  by 
some  one  of  the  subsequent  machines.  General 
Husted  was  one  of  the  few,  out  of  the  many  pro- 
ducts of  the  period  of  party  liberty,  who  survived 
all  the  accidents  of  warring  and  changing  factions. 
He  was  more  frequently  in  opposition  to,  than  in 
accord  with,  the  machine.  As  one  was  broken  and 
another  constructed,  he  would  still  find  himself 
antagonized  by  it.  He  had  views  and  would  ex- 
press them,  and  he  wanted  reasons  before  he  would 
obey  orders.  These  qualities  made  him  objection- 
able to  the  leaders  as  they  severally  came  into 
power.  They  repeatedly  thwarted  his  ambitions 
for  State  office,  and  for  Federal  appointments,  but 
were  able  only  once  to  dislodge  him  in  his  district. 
They  tried  to  beat  him  by  third  candidates,  they 
endeavored  to  defeat  his  nominations  by  capturing 
his  friends  with  places  in  the  Custom  House  and 
the  Post  Office,  and  on  several  occasions,  prefer- 
ring a  Democrat  to  a  Republican  they  could  not 
absolutely  control,  they  furnished  secret  but  sub- 
stantial support  to  his  opponent.  But  nothing 
could  shake  his  hold  upon  his  people.  They  knew 
him,  and  he  knew  them. 

He  saw  the  power  of  Thurlow  Weed  pass  away, 
he  held  his  own  during  the  brief  sway  of  Horace 


9 

Greeley,  he  kept  his  position  under  the  rule  of 
Reuben  E.  Fenton,  and  the  mastery  of  Roscoe 
Conkling,  and  notwithstanding  all  the  kaleido- 
scopic changes  following  the  retirement  of  Senator 
Conkling,  he  died  as  he  had  lived  for  twenty-two 
years,  still  Member  of  Assembly  for  the  Third  Dis- 
trict of  Westchester.  General  Husted's  tact,  tal- 
ents, and  unselfish  desire  to  be  useful,  made  him 
the  selected  Mend  in  the  House  of  Assembly  of 
every  Governor  of  the  State,  no  matter  what  the 
politics  of  the  Executive.  Hoffman,  Dix,  Tilden, 
Robinson,  Cornell,  Cleveland,  Hill,  and  Flower, 
were  successively  the  Chief  Magistrates  of  the 
Commonwealth  during  General  Husted's  service 
in  the  Legislature,  and  with  each  of  them  his 
relations  were  close  and  cordial.  He  was  above 
small  partisanship  and  cheap  politics.  He  be- 
lieved the  Governor  of  the  State  of  New  York 
occupied  a  large  place,  and  that  the  Legislature 
should  do  all  in  its  power  to  enable  him  to  sustain 
its  dignity.  On  strictly  party  measures,  he  would 
always  act  with  his  party.  But  a  Governor  can 
be  annoyed  or  assisted  in  numberless  ways,  which 
affect  only  his  personal  comfort  and  legitimate 
powers.  In  such  cases,  if  the  Republicans  were 
in  the  majority  in  the  Legislature,  Husted  was  the 
Governor's  most  efficient  friend,  and  if  the  Demo- 
crats were  in  power,  he  was  still  the  most  import- 
ant factor  in  the  Capitol.  Those  who  wanted  to  get 
revenge  because  some  bill  had  been  vetoed,  or  an 


10 

appointment  to  office  had  not  been  made,  and  those 
who  thought  it  good  politics  to  cramp  the  con- 
veniences of  help,  or  material  for  the  Executive 
Chamber,  or  the  Executive  Mansion,  found  in  the 
General  an  alert,  able  and  generally  successful 
enemy.  Governor  Tilden's  fame  and  career  de- 
pended upon  his  carrying  through  the  Assembly, 
while  he  was  a  member,  his  resolution  for  the  im- 
peachment of  the  ring  judges.  And  yet  he  would 
have  failed,  except  for  the  assistance  and  consum- 
mate parliamentary  skill  of  the  member  from 
Westchester.  Mr.  Tilden  never  forgot  this  service, 
and  tried  in  after  years  in  many  ways  to  show  his 
appreciation  and  gratitude.  He  thonght  that 
Busted, from  his  associations  and  intimacies,  would 
join  the  Greeley  movement,  which  might  peril  his 
political  future,  and  at  great  inconvenience  and 
trouble,  he  conveyed  early  information  to  the 
General  of  the  Re|)ublican  victory  in  North  Caro- 
lina, which  virtually  decided  the  contest  against 
the  editor  of  the  Tribune. 

Our  departed  friend  saw,  as  no  other  public  man 
has  been  permitted  to  observe,  the  triumphs  and 
defeats, the  hopes  and  disappointments,the  joys  and 
sorrows,  the  realities  and  the  romance  of  political 
careers.  Every  conspicuous  figure  in  either  party 
during  the  past  quarter  of  a  century  has  been  his 
associate  and  his  friend.  I  have  referred  to  his  rela- 
tions with  the  men  who  received  the  honors,  and  at 
times  controlled  the  organization  of  the  Republican 


11 

party  in  our  state.  But  lie  was  with  Tilden  when 
that  statesmen  was  hovering  between  fame  and  obli- 
vion, and  enjoyed  his  familiar  intimacy  and  confi- 
dence during  his  gubernatorial  term.  As  a  veteran 
leader  in  the  Assembly,  he  witnessed  the  meteoric 
advent  of  Mr.  Cleveland  in  Albany,  and  divined 
the  power  which  has  developed  such  phenomenal 
strength  in  the  state  and  in  the  country.  He  was 
serving  his  fourth  term  in  the  Legislature,  when  a 
member  from  Chemung,  then  scarcely  known  be- 
yond the  boundaries  of  his  county,  began  a  career 
which  has  harvested  the  Lieutenant-Governorship 
and  Chief  Magistracy  of  our  State,  and  United 
States  Senator,  and  made  David  B.  Hill  a  potent 
force  in  the  counsels  of  his  party.  Speakers  of  the 
Assembly  George  B.  Sloan  and  George  H.  Sharpe, 
Titus  Sheard  and  George  Z.  Erwin,  Fremont  Cole 
and  William  F.  Sheehan,  Robert  P.  Bush  and  Will- 
iam Sulzer,  were  not  only  his  associates,  but  they 
were  his  pupils  and  prize  winners  in  parliamentary 
law. 

There  is  no  talent  more  common  than  the  ability 
to  speak,  and  none  more  rare  than  the  gift  of  speak- 
ing so  as  to  command  the  attention  and  substantial 
assent  of  the  audience.  The  ordinary  talker  in  a 
deliberative  body  kills  time  and  murders  patience, 
irritates  the  indifferent  and  tires  his  friends.  Real 
debating  power  is  a  gift,  as  brilliant  as  it  is  useful. 
It  does  not  consist  in  elaborate  effort,  in  the  length 
of  the  speech,  in  superiority  of  logic,  grace  of  die- 


12 

tion,  or  rhetorical  finish.  Any  or  all  of  these  may 
prove  a  detriment,  though,  with  the  master,  they 
are  tools  to  be  used,  or  not,  as  the  occasion  may  re- 
quire. Many  a  massive  structure,  which  the  orator 
has  spent  hours  in  erecting,  has  been  demolished, 
and  has  buried  its  author  under  its  ruins,  by  the 
dynamite  of  a  ten  minutes  speech.  Legislatures 
fear  bores  and  resent  pedagogues.  They  love  good 
fighters  and  hard  hitters.  Like  veteran  troops,  they 
do  not  want  to  be  instructed,  but  to  be  led.  They 
may  sleep  through  a  ponderous  oration  of  Charles 
Sumner,  and  rise  with  delight  to  greet  an  incisive 
sarcasm  of  Thaddeus  Stevens.  There  are  occasions 
when  a  labored  effort  is  necessary  to  outline  or  de- 
fend a  policy,  or  to  appeal  to  the  party  or  the  coun- 
try. But  in  the  exigencies  of  daily  discussion,  it 
is  the  crisp,  lucid  and  direct  debater  who  carries, 
or  defeats  measures.  The  skillful  parliamentarian 
knows  instinctively  the  temper  of  the  House.  His 
greatest  triumphs  are  in  humoring  its  moods.  No 
member  was  ever  more  complete  master  of  this  art 
than  General  Husted.  No  member  ever  passed  or 
defeated  so  many  bills.  His  speeches  were  rarely  a 
half  an  hour  in  length,  and  most  of  them  not  over 
ten  minutes.  He  captured  the  attention  of  the 
Assembly  with  his  first  sentence,  and  had  its  ap- 
proval before  he  closed.  He  was  not  speaking  for 
posterity,  but  to  carry  his  point.  The  debate  would 
drag  wearily  on.  The  impatient  House  would  have 
listened  to  the  dry  statistician,  and  the  dreary  logi- 


13 

cian,  to  the  spread  eagle  orator  careering  among  the 
constellations,  colliding  with  the  planets  and  strew- 
ing the  floor  with  star  dust,  and  to  the  exhaustive 
and  exhausting  essayist  with  whom  all  arguments 
are  alike  important,  and  the  quantity  of  whose  mat- 
ter obscures  its  quality.  Suddenly,  a  ringing  voice, 
shouting  "Mr.  Speaker,"  would  rouse  everyone, 
like  an  electric  shock.  The  flashing  eyes  of  the  Bald 
Eagle  of  Westchester  would  cast  a  sweeping  glance 
about  the  Chamber,  and  arrest  universal  attention. 
The  weak  positions  taken  by  his  enemy  would  be 
quickly  turned,  the  reasons  for  his  side  as  quickly 
and  succinctly  stated,  a  burst  of  humor  would  give 
the  laugh  of  friends  and  enemies  alike,  to  one  ad- 
versary, and  a  biting  sarcasm  to  the  delight  of  the 
audience,  pierce  another,  and  the  tired  and  impa- 
tient House,  hailing  him  as  their  deliverer,  would 
follow  his  lead. 

He  was  the  friend  and  protector  of  young  mem- 
bers. Few  positions  are  more  difficult  and  embar- 
rassing than  those  of  a  new  member,  whose  consti- 
tuency have  elected  him  to  pass  certain  measures. 
He  is  ignorant  alike  of  the  rules  of  the  Assembly, 
and  of  Jefferson's  Manual.  He  soon  finds  himself 
lost  in  a  labyrinth  from  which  he  can  neither  ex- 
tricate himself  or  his  bills.  He  is  in  despair  be- 
tween his  impotency  at  the  Capitol,  and  his  waning 
prestige  and  popularity  at  home.  His  colleagues, 
as  a  rule,  are  too  much  absorbed  in  their  own  mat- 
ters to  heed  or  care  for  his.     The  veteran  member 


14 

from  Westchester  was  ever  watchful  for  such  signs 
of  distress.  Even  while  the  House  was  smiling  at 
the  bungling  efforts  of  the  proposer  of  the  bill,  or 
derisively  laughing  at  his  mistakes,  a  masterhand 
would  take  hold  of  the  measure,  and  its  easy  and 
uninterrupted  movement  would  seem  inspired  by 
the  wand  of  a  magician. 

The  hostility  of  his  party  leaders  would  often 
consign  him  to  minor  places  on  the  committees, 
and  the  rear  rank  among  his  associates,  and  yet 
before  the  session  was  half  over,  his  unequalled 
talent  on  the  floor,  and  the  devoted  following  of 
new  members  whom  he  had  assisted  or  rescued, 
would  put  him  in  his  proper  place,  and  make  the 
leaders,  temporarily  at  least,  his  suppliants.  He 
was  so  fair  a  political  opponent,  and  always  so  ready 
to  cheerfully  help  members  of  the  other  party  on 
matters  which  were  not  partisan,  that  they  were 
only  too  glad  to  reciprocate  when  occasion  offered. 
This  assistance  was  of  great  service  to  him  in  several 
crises  of  his  career.  There  were  times  when  it 
might  have  been  good  politics  for  the  Democrats 
to  have  joined  with  the  organization  of  his  own 
party  to  crush  the  General  out.  But  they  never 
did.  When  the  question  related  solely  to  his  per- 
sonal fortunes,  and  his  position  in  the  House,  they 
did  what  he  asked,  and  often  followed  his  lead  in 
those  sudden  and  audacious  assaults  upon  his  ad- 
versaries which  totally  routed  them,  and  scored  for 
him  a  significant  individual  victory. 


15 

And  yet  this  dashing  fighter,  this  fierce  cavalier, 
this  most  reckless  and  daring  of  combatants,  was 
incapable  of  harboring  or  retaining  an  enmity.  He 
never  knew  the  feeling,  which  is  the  luxury  of  some 
natures,  of  hate.  If  he  had  not  been  so  buoyant, 
supremely  hopeful,  aud  sincere,  he  might  justly 
have  been  charged  with  regarding  politics  as  a 
game,  with  the  gambler's  admiration  for  the  winner, 
and  sympathy  for  the  loser.  He  was  a  thorough 
partisan,  and  during  all  his  life  did  yeoman's  service 
for  his  party.  He  could  not  understand  why  dif- 
ferences of  political  faith,  or  policy,  should  lead  to 
personal  enmities.  The  most  childish,  and  the 
most  frequent  exhibition  of  spleen  among  politi- 
cians, is  that  of  the  man  in  your  own,  or  the  oppo- 
sition party  with  whom  you  have  a  disagreement 
growing  out  of  purely  political  affairs,  who  there- 
after withdraws  from  you  the  honor  of  his  recog- 
nition or  acquaintance.  It  shows  both  the  vulnerable 
places  in  that  statesman's  armor,  and  an  apprecia- 
tion by  himself  of  his  nod,  absurdly  disproportionate 
to  its  value.  It  is  a  practice,  which  so  grows  by 
indulgence,  that  its  proud  possessor  is  sometimes 
himself  in  doubt  whether  the  person  he  meets  may 
not  be  on  his  list  of  the  excommunicated,  and 
groping  helplessly  in  the  Cimmerian  darkness  which 
envelops  all  those  whose  atmosphere  is' not  illu- 
mined by  his  approving  smile.  It  was  never  neces- 
sary for  General  Husted  to  consult  a  memorandum 
book  before  he  spoke  to  a  man.  He  cordially  greeted 


16 

everybody,  and  that  one  the  most  warmly  with 
whom  he  had  the  last  battle.  If  he  was  worsted, 
he  was  the  first  to  compliment  his  adversary  upon 
his  victory,  and  if  he  was  himself  the  victor,  he 
doubly  disarmed  his  enemy  by  the  generosity  of  his 
treatment.  He  loved  to  gather  about  his  hospitable 
table  his  legislative,  or  party  opponents,  and  dis- 
cuss the  fields  they  had  fought,  the  feints,  the 
assaults,  the  retreats,  the  false  movements,  the  mis- 
taken manoeuvres,  and  recount  with  hilarious  glee, 
the  unexpected  stroke  which  had  turned  the  flank 
of  the  enemy,  and  won  the  day. 

Those  who  have  never  been  in  public  life,  or 
active  in  politics,  know  nothing  of  their  exquisite 
pleasures,  and  keen  disappointments.  It  is  the 
compensations  of  a  career  which  make  life  worth 
the  living.  If  it  was  all  joy,  or  all  sorrow,  there 
would  be  nothing  in  it.  The  politician  is  always 
either  in  paradise  or  purgatory,  and  he  is  ever 
struggling  to  stay  in  the  one  sphere,  or  to  get  out 
of  the  other.  The  intensity  and  strain,  the  uncer- 
tainties and  accidents  of  pjolitics  make  possible  the 
warmest  attachments  among  politicians.  This  is 
specially  true  between  those  of  opposite  faith. 
They  fight  only  on  broad  lines,  and  are  free  from 
the  irritations  of  faction  feuds.  They  generously 
appreciate  the  good  qualities  and  abilities,  each  of 
the  other,  and  are  bound  together  in  bonds  of  closest 
friendship.  General  Husted  was  peculiarly  feli- 
citous in  making,  and   happy  in  retaining  these 


17 

relations.  His  most  ardent  admirers,  and  steadfast 
friends  were  to  be  found  among  the  leaders  of  the 
opposition.  It  was  the  chivalrous  spirit  and  actions 
of  the  man  which  won  the  applause  and  affections 
of  his  political  foes.  There  were  few  deeper  or 
more  sincere  mourners  at  his  funeral  than  those 
whom  he  had  conquered,  or  been  defeated  by,  on 
many  a  fair  field,  and  in  many  a  fair  fight. 

The  legislature,  and  its  popular  Assembly,  con- 
centrate the  attention  of  the  people  much  more 
than  the  executive  or  the  judicial  branches  of  free 
government.  The  representatives  are  in  closer  re- 
lations with  the  constituencies.  It  is  from  the  lower 
house,  as  a  rule,  that  the  highest  honors  are  at- 
tained. Five  of  General  Husted's  colleagues  have 
been  Governors,  two  of  them  United  States  Sena- 
tors, three  Lieutenant  Governors,  eighteen  State 
officers,  fourteen  have  been  members  of  Congress, 
twelve  have  been  elevated  to  the  Bench,  and  many 
have  served  with  distinction  in  important  positions 
under  the  Federal  Government.  There  is  a  pecu- 
liar fascination  about  the  three  chief  positions  in  a 
deliberative  body.  The  speaker,  the  leader  of  the 
House,  and  the  leader  of  the  opposition,  are  the 
great  men  of  the  hour,  and  have  rare  opportunities 
for  permanent  fame.  The  very  few  whose  names 
we  can  recall  in  our  century  of  Congressional  life, 
who  have  attained  distinction  in  any  of  these  posi- 
tions, indicate  how  rare  is  parliamentary  ability  of 
the  first  order  ;  and  the  limited  number  who  were 


18 

eminent  in  all  three  Departments,  illustrate  the 
genius  required  to  fill  them.  A  successful  leader 
of  the  House  may  prove  a  poor  general  for  the  op- 
position, and  be  a  total  failure  as  a  Speaker.  We 
have,  as  yet,  produced  but  two  statesmen  who  were 
conspicuously  great,  and  unequalled  both  on  the 
floor,  and  as  presiding  officers,  Henry  Clay  and 
James  G.  Blaine.  The  judicial  impartiality  of  the 
Chair,  and  the  blind  partisanship  of  the  floor,  re- 
quire experience,  and  qualities  so  distinct,  and 
antagonistic,  that  their  possession  rarely  appears 
more  than  once  in  a  generation.  There  have  been 
some,  but  not  many,  who  excelled  General  Husted 
as  a  leader  of  the  House,  and  some,  but  not  many 
who  surpassed  him  as  a  leader  of  the  opposition, 
but  not  even  Clay  or  Blaine  were  his  superiors  as  a 
Presiding  Officer.  The  celerity  with  which  he 
would  unravel  a  tangle  of  cumulative,  and  contra- 
dictory motions  and  amendments,  the  certainty  of 
his  positions,  the  clearness  and  directness  of  his 
decisions,  and  the  ability  with  which  he  brought 
order  out  of  chaos,  and  quieted  the  most  disorderly 
and  tumultuous  assemblage,  were  strokes  of  genius. 
He  never  made  a  mistake  which  he  could  not  cor- 
rect, and  never  a  misstep  from  which  he  could  not 
instantly  land  on  firmer  ground. 

It  well  repaid  a  visit  to  the  Capitol  to  see 
Speaker  Husted  preside.  The  gratification  of  wit- 
nessing an  important  thing  done  perfectly,  is 
almost  as  great  as  to  do  it  oneself.      The  artistic 


19 

instinct  is  universal,  and  all  enjoy  the  work  of  a 
master  artist.  Some  member  would  be  occupying 
the  chair  temporarily.  The  House  would  be  in  con- 
fusion, and  many  members  shouting  at  the  same 
time  for  recognition  would  stop  business.  Angry 
altercations  would  be  going  on  in  the  aisles,  and  in 
front  of  the  desk.  The  chairman  would  pound 
with  his  gavel,  and  threaten  to  hand  the  more  ob- 
streperous members  into  the  custody  of  the  Ser- 
geant-at-Arms,  only  to  be  either  unnoticed  or 
laughed  at.  Suddenly  would  sound  through  the 
Chamber  a  sharp  rap,  succeeded  by  another  and 
more  emphatic  one.  Silence  would  instantly  fol- 
low. The  Speaker  would  peremptorily  order  that 
members  take  their  seats,  then  instantly  utilizing 
the  breathless  silence,  he  would  either  end  the 
wrangle  by  a  decision  which  no  one  dared  question, 
or  recognize  the  member  whom  he  knew  could 
hold  the  floor,  or  direct  the  Clerk  to  proceed  with 
the  regular  order.  The  transformation,  from  riot 
to  business,  was  because  the  leader  had  resumed 
the  chair,  and  the  House  bowed  submissive  to  its 
master.  No  one  but  he,  at  least  at  Albany,  has 
ever  been  able  to  make  the  gavel  talk.  He  won  his 
greatest  triumphs  in  the  closing  days  of  the 
session.  This  is  always  a  critical  period  for  the 
Speaker,  and  a  time  full  of  peril  to  the  State,  and 
the  reputation  of  the  Legislature.  Party  bills  have 
been  kept  behind  to  avoid  the  scrutiny  of  the 
opposition,  and  bad  bills  held  in  reserve,  in  the 


20 

hope  of  passing  them  during  the  confusion  of  the 
last  hours.  The  lobby  is  alert  and  audacious,  and 
the  speculators  in  legislation  both  inside  and  out- 
side the  Legislature,  are  exhausting  the  resources 
of  cunning,  and  testing  the  elasticity  of  the 
rules  to  pass  their  bills,  their  resolutions  and 
their  schemes.  It  is  the  work  of  the  week 
of  adjournment  which  has  at  times  done  incalcula- 
ble injury  to  the  Commonwealth,  and  rendered 
some  sessions  infamous.  Here  is  the  Speaker's  op- 
portunity and  his  danger.  He  will  either  guide  the 
House,  or  the  House  will  ride  rough  shod  over 
him.  General  Husted  was  thoroughly  familiar 
with  the  history  and  needs  of  the  State.  He 
made  himself  acquainted  with  the  bills  which 
were  pending,  both  in  Senate  and  Assembly.  He 
knew  the  inside  of  all  the  conspiracies  and  com- 
binations, and  through  the  veneer  of  alleged  pub- 
lic interests  saw  the  strike,  and  behind  the  mask 
of  a  fraudulent  reformer,  the  striker.  Business 
would  proceed  with  the  rapidity  of  lightning,  and 
the  dazed  members  be  either  frantic,  or  paralyzed  in 
the  whirl  of  motions,  speeches,  reports  and  roll 
calls.  There  was  in  that  maddened  throng  one 
cool,  supreme,  controlling  mind.  With  a  skill, 
which  was  like  necromancy,  and  a  daring  which 
silenced  dissent,  he  sifted  the  mass  pouring  from 
the  hopper  of  committees,  and  sub -committees, 
and  dropped  the  bad  out  of  its  order,  and  sent  the 
good  through. 


21 

From  1869,  when  General  Husted  was  first  elected 
to  the  Legislature,  and  including  1892  when  he 
died,  has  been  a  most  eventful  period  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Nation,  and  of  our  State.  It  runs  from 
Grant's  first,  to  Cleveland's  second  election,  and 
from  Hoffman  to  Flower.  It  is  fruitful  of  popular 
revulsions,  and  revivals  of  prosperity.  It  is  rich 
in  materials  for  the  historian,  the  political  econ- 
omist, and  the  political  philosopher.  It  has  been 
singularly  full  of,  and  remarkably  fatal  to  great 
men,  and  powerful  organizations.  The  re-election 
of  General  Grant,  and  the  tragedy  which  clouded 
the  mighty  brain,  and  ended  the  eventful  life  of 
Horace  Greeley  ;  the  threatening  clouds  of  revolu- 
tion which  hovered  over  the  claims  of  Samuel  J. 
Tilden,  and  their  dispersion  by  the  inauguration 
of  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  ;  the  political  revolution 
against  the  organization  which  ended  in  the  nomi- 
nation of  Garfield,  and  the  loss  of  its  fruits  by  his 
assassination  ;  the  dynamic  and  romantic  events 
which  made  Cleveland  President,  and  the  receding 
tide  which  carried  Harrison  into  the  White  House, 
and  the  electoral  results  which  after  thirty-two 
years,  have  changed  the  politics  and  policy  of  the 
National  Government  by  Mr.  Cleveland's  second 
election,  with  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives behind  him  ;  these,  and  the  great  financial  and 
industrial  measures  which  have  had  such  potent 
influence  upon  the  welfare  of  our  country,  are  the 
national  milestones  of  these  wonderful  years. 


22 

The  rapid  rise  and  rough  destruction  of  the 
forces  which  made  Hoffman  Governor ;  the  patri- 
otic combination  which  gave  a  hundred  thousand 
majority  to  General  Dix  ;  the  rising  tide  against 
corruption  in  the  State  and  City  of  New  York, 
which  carried  Tilden  to  the  Executive  chair  ;  the 
easy  succession  of  Lucius  Robinson,  and  the 
reclamation  of  the  Stale  by  Alonzo  B.  Cornell  ; 
the  protest  against  federal  and  machine  dictation 
which  gave  Cleveland  nearly  two  hundred  thou- 
sand majority,  and  the  more  recent  contests  which 
ended  in  the  elections  of  Hill  and  Flower ;  and 
the  struggles  and  their  issues  which  are  fruitful 
of  bitter  controversy  for  a  generation  to  come, 
form  the  most  varied,  eventful  and  interesting 
chapter  in  the  history  of  our  Commonwealth. 

It  will  ever  remain  the  unique  distinction  of 
General  Husted  that,  though  subject  to  the  ordeal 
of  an  annual  election,  he  held  place  and  power 
during  this 

"  Wreck  of  matter  and  crush  of  worlds." 

As  a  Legislator,  he  favored  all  political,  moral 
and  social  reforms.  On  such  questions  he  rose 
above  party  considerations.  He  fearlessly  advo- 
cated the  suffrage  for  women.  He  was  the  most 
efficient  friend  of  the  Union  Soldier.  His  best 
efforts,  and  most  effective  speeches,  were  for  high 
license,  or  other  wise  regulations  of  the  liquor 
traffic,  for  the  protection  of  the  American  Sunday, 


23 

for  religious  toleration  in  legislation,  and  for  better 
and  more  humane  care  of  the  afflicted  and  unfor- 
tunate who  are  the  wards  of  the  State. 

Through  all  his  varied  career  he  cared  nothing  for 
yesterday,  did  his  best  for  to-day,  and  was  confident 
of  to-morrow.  The  rainbow  of  hope  always  spanned 
his  sky.  The  elasticity  of  his  temperament  was  the 
marvel  of  those  who  were  intimate  with  him.  He 
knew  defeat,  but  had  no  comprehension  of  despair. 
He  saw  in  misfortunes  which  others  regarded  as 
calamities,  a  providential  interposition  that  he  might 
reap  richer  rewards  in  some  other  direction.  Faith, 
hope  and  charity  were  the  mainsprings  of  his 
thoughts  and  actions.  He  set  a  very  high  value 
upon  political  honors,  and  had  a  low  estimate  of 
wealth.  Conversations  which  are  so  frequent  in  all 
circles  and  at  most  gatherings,  concerning  schemes 
for  making  fortunes,  or  the  fabulous  success  of 
lucky  individuals,  would  neither  interest  nor  detain 
him  ;  but  he  would  travel  a  thousand  miles  on  an 
hour's  notice  to  perform  a  public  duty,  or  attend  an 
important  meeting  of  political  leaders.  He  knew 
little  about  Wall  street  or  the  combinations  which, 
if  successful,  accumulate  sudden  wealth ;  but  he 
loved  to  talk  with  farmers  about  their  affairs,  and 
with  workingmen  about  their  interests.  If  some 
omnipotent  power  had  offered  him  the  choice  be- 
tween being  the  richest  man  in  the  world  or  Gover- 
nor of  the  State  of  New  York — with  the  certainty 
of  having  a  narrow  income  for  the  rest  of  his  life 


24 

after  retiring  from  office — he  would  unhesitatingly 
have  chosen  the  governorship.  He  believed  in 
himself  and  his  surroundings.  He  felt  that  others 
had  environments  covered  by  the  same  general  no- 
menclature, but  that  no  one  ever  lived  who  pos- 
sessed so  gifted  and  good  a  wife,  such  dutiful  and 
promising  children,  such  worthy  and  devoted 
friends,  and  moved  amidst  such  happy  and  satis- 
factory conditions.  He  never  did  an  injury  to  any 
man,  but  he  helped  hundreds  to  positions  of 
profit  and  trust.  Fully  one-quarter  of  his  time 
was  devoted  to  assisting  the  young  or  the  unfor- 
tunate, and  his  name  is  heard  in  the  grateful 
prayers  of  numberless  households. 

Patriotic  public  servant  and  useful  citizen,  faith- 
ful friend  and  charming  companion,  the  State 
which  honored  him,  and  which  he  honored,  has 
enrolled  him  on  the  list  of  her  distinguished  sons, 
and  we,  the  Governor,  the  State  officers,  the  mem- 
bers of  Senate  and  Assembly,  and  people  in  pri- 
vate station,  who  knew  and  loved  him,  will  ever 
cherish  his  memory,  feeling  that  our  lives  are 
better  and  brighter  because  he  entered  into  them. 
Dear  old  friend,  hail  and  farewell ! 


EDWIN    C.    LOCKWOOD, 

STEAM   PAINTER, 

NO.   68    PINE   STREET, 

NEW   YORK. 


